Chapter 40

We could've reach our destination by the night if we continued on our pace, but we decided to camp and wait for tomorrow instead.

There are many disadvantages of fighting a high-class monster like wyverns at night. First off, they can see through the dark, their darker hue of skin can also camouflage them in the night, making them harder to see. The latter problem might not be a big concern, since wyverns have a large frame, but they are still fast and they can easily escape from vision. It will be difficult to keep up with their movements in the midst of darkness, no matter how much torches we carry.

So while we wait for tomorrow, we can take our time to rest and recover. We needed the breather anyway from the long march so far.

While the foot soldiers and adventurers are still setting up camp, Julian was with his guards, having a discussion regarding the plan they've devised. It seems they already have decided beforehand to confirm it, so their meeting might not take long to finish.

I didn't have anything to do, so I decided to visit Gil and the others. There, I saw Gil sitting on a log, polishing his sword. Jessica was fixing her arrows, and as usual, Senna was reading a book. Like the knights and the other adventurer teams, they must've sent Riget to look for firewood. When I came over, Gil and Jessica greeted me, while Senna simply threw a glance at me.

"So, what is your relationship with Julian-sama?" Jessica asked with a serious expression on her face.

Not far from when we started our conversation, the topic naturally shifted towards what happened a few hours ago, when Julian called out to me to ride together with him and the knights.

"We're friends... I think..."

We spent a lot of time together, so I naturally started to treat him in a casual and familiar manner. A friend is the closes thing I can describe my relationship with him. No matter how much I don't like to admit it, we're truly acting like we're friends.

"I never saw anyone treat him like you do... it feels like you're equal... don't tell me! Are you an elf noble, Eria!?" Jessica exclaimed.

"Are you, Eria-san?" Gil asked too, looking bewildered.

"Not at all. I only got close with Julian because of some strange circumstances..."

"Then how did you meet him?"

With Jessica-san's excited face staring at me, I reluctantly told them the entire story. It's not like it was a secret, we had a large audience when we fought in that duel. However, Jessica persistently asked for more, and I also ended up telling them about our usual tour of the restaurants in the city and more.

"Eh... doesn't that mean you two are dating!?"

"Huh...?"

"I mean, you two always go to fancy restaurants and he takes you to expensive places... I can't see it any other way!"

Whe-when she puts it that way, it does sound like that... It didn't register to my mind since I always thought of us as two guys hanging out, but to anyone else's eyes, they must have seen us as a man and a woman who has a very close relationship.

Did he spoil me so much that my mind went numb? That guy is unusually persuasive, so he always convinces me to come with him... was this his plan all along? To make others think that the two of us are going out?

Fufu... what a sick bastard. Just how did I fall for his scheme?

"Did I get it wrong?" reading the expression on my face, Jessica-san apologetically said.

"That's why you shouldn't make any rushed assumptions," Gil lightly tap the back of Jessica's head and scolded her.

"Sorry..."

"No, it's okay... I just realized that it was my fault too that people might misunderstand us like you did," I waved my hand and tried to brush her apology off.

"If you're hanging out with him, then I'm sure you heard about the rumors surrounding him, right?" Gil suddenly butted in.

"Rumors?"

What rumors is he talking about? All I heard the people talk about Julian was how handsome and amazing he was. So far, I never heard anyone talk bad about him. That surprises me too, since Julian's attitude is as annoying as it can get. But I guess people don't really care about that, since it was a common thing for nobles to have.

"Yes... they say Julian is a womanizer and he likes to take advantage of women."

Wait, don't you have that kind of rumours surrounding you too? I wanted to tell him that, but I didn't want to be rude.

"If you're not careful, he might target you too."

"I heard nobles like to slip drugs into women's drink to take advantage of them when they can't resist," Senna, who was reading a book until now said.

"I heard about that too! He might target you next, Eria! Please be careful!" Jessica begged and hugged me from the side.

It's not like I don't believe them. Julian is definitely horny for me. When we first met, he challenged me to a fight he couldn't possibly lose. He's the kind of guy who would do that.

Now that I think about it, he's not really someone I should get myself involved with. He's really just so persuasive, and once I got used to him, I didn't mind his antics that much anymore. He also hasn't pulled any tricks similar to that duel again, and he appears more tamed now than he was when we first met.

Is he trying to make me lower my guard? Is he just waiting for the opportunity to attack?

"Eria," suddenly, a voice came calling to me from behind. Of course, it was from Julian.

"Wha... what is it?" I smiled at him with my mouth awkwardly twitching.

I saw Julian frown when he saw me. I'm not really good at hiding my awkwardness, so he knew right away that my smile was fake. With a sigh, he turned to Gil and the others.

"You do not belong with this degenerate people... come, I had the knights put up a tent for you. You can sleep there for the night," he said.

"Isn't it a bit too early for that? Besides, I still have things to talk with them about."

"No, no... if Julian-sama is asking for you, I think you should go, Eria..." Jessica cowards at Julian's intense stare.

"You should go, Eria. We don't want to steal away your time with Julian-sama."

"Yes, you should go."

After Jessica, Gil and Senna insisted too. They were all acting suspiciously, like they were little kids who got caught stealing candy from a store. Jessica was cowering in fear, Senna was trying to hide her presence as much as she can, and Gil was deliberately avoiding eye-contact.

"Let's go."

"E-eh? Sure..."

I hesitantly followed Julian, still baffled by the three's reaction.

"Hey... don't you think you scared them too much?" I complained to Julian, who was walking ahead of me with his hands behind his back.

"You really don't have a clue... Well, at least you're not one to fall for appearances. You're a tough nut to crack as well, so I'm not that worried about you."

"Huh...?"

What is he blabbering about...?